on campus accomodation!

cessy

ok so wat really sucks about living on capus and is there manny really good things boot it ive already applied for it
it doesnt seem that bad ,grand actually? wat are the parties like are the security really strict or is it pretty laid back?

Hester

I'm assuming that you're not a current student in DCU. I've been living on campus (res) for the last two years and I've had enough of it. I plan to get a room in a house next year, which will work out cheaper and I'll have much more freedom.

The following is an email that was sent to all students by the welfare officer that might interest you

With the deadline for campus res soon approaching there are a few things
that I believe you need to know. While campus accommodation has some
great things to offer, such as a high standard of accommodation and
convenience, there are lots of other things that aren’t so good.

The question I ask myself is where to start. After 8 months in this job
I have come across so many problems with campus res. I suppose firstly
you do not sign a tenancy agreement, that under law would protect you
rights, you sign a licence, where campus res are entitled to impose any
terms and conditions they want on you. In short you have no protection
for your rights as set down under the Residential Tenancies Act.

The whole complex is surrounded by high gates and fences that are closed
early every evening. It seems that security and the protection of
property seems to over-rule people's civil liberties. To add to this if
you loose you key card or unfortunate enough to lock yourself out of
your room you will be charge €5 during office hours and €20 out of
office hours for the privilege of been let back into your room.

If you decide you no longer want to live in campus res you are liable to
pay your full rent even though you no longer live there. You are locked
into a fixed term contract. If you were to live in off campus
accommodation this would be illegal because you are protected by the
residential tenancies act which lays periods of notice you have to give
to leave rented accommodation.

There is a huge issue of your privacy or lack of it while you live on
res. Members of the maintenance team have free rain to enter apartments
whenever they want. No notice must be given if they want to enter your
apartment. Then there is the ever-thorny issue of room inspections.
While most people agree that these are a good idea they needn’t be as
strict as they are. People are in essence been fined for living in their
apartments, with fines been incurred for such things as a wet bathroom
floor although its obvious the person is just out of the shower, having
rubbish in their bins and the list of ridiculous fines goes on and on.
The view of the Campus Res staff member on the level of cleanliness is
finial with no come back for the resident.

Then there is the old faithful in complaints. The fact that your not
allowed have overnight guests in your apartment. You can have as many
people as you want up until 12.00 but after that mysteriously you aren’t
allowed. This is something that the Students’ Union has been campaigning
for several years to get changed, but unfortunately to no avail.

Bearing all this in mind and the annual rent is anything between €3168
and €4500 before bills. That’s €88 per week for the cheapest room in
Larkfield and €125 per week for the double room in College Park. The
average rent in a house around DCU for a single room is €70 to €80.
The question you have to ask yourself is are you happy to live on campus
under these conditions?

--

Ronan O'Hart
Welfare Officer/Vice President
DCU Students Union

A lot of people living on res are happy enough with the conditions and it is a great way to get to know people when you're in first year. And it's so handy to be able to roll out of bed straight into lectures

That reminds me.. did anyone else here get that email telling you that you have to pay for an access card that was issued? I got locked out of my room once in 2 years and now I have to pay €20 :mad:

Suaimhneach

Res is great for first years. Avoiding getting into trouble is fun I'd imagine. I like res cuz I am so lazy that if I wake up late its unlikely I'll bother goign to lectures. But if I wake up late here, I'll make it to lectures in the evening

Its great fun, in second yaer you can live with friends if you want.

Only downsides are room inspections / no over night guests. Upsides to those in my opinion are that the inspections actually force people to maintain a living standard which is good, and thre is manys a way to sneek people in.

And remember, rules might be changing soon enough. Walfare and the SU are really trying hard on our behalf.

tinkerbell

Res is good, I've been living on res now every year I've been in DCU - so been here for four years

The only thing that annoys me is that sometimes you can be put living with proper dopes, and the campus accom people can be quite stupid regarding this - e.g. in my case, putting two final year students in with two Erasmus students (who have no exams and party all the time, aaaaargh :mad:)

Other than that, it's great living here. You get easy access to college, there's a 'net connection port in each bedroom (I know you have to pay but still, it's very handy), the rooms are fab (I'm in College Park, living in luxury!). You can sneak people in no bother - the only nights you may have trouble are say like nights of the Fresher's Ball, the Rag ball and the Summer ball, any other night of the week is grand.

As for parties - you can throw as many as you like up til midnight, but "officially" people are supposed to be gone at 12, that doesn't happen - even security don't enforce that rule (they tell you to keep it down if they are called, they don't even kick people out!)

All in all, tiz a good place to live, the only downside is being put in with pure dopes. And as for the room inspections - they are great because it means that people HAVE to clean up after themselves, and ain't living like pigs. The twats I live with never clean up the kitchen after themselves, so I love when the room inspection day comes and they actually help to clean the kitchen. I dunno why people complain about the room inspections, tiz pure stupid. At the end of the day, they are only there to make sure that you ain't living in total mess.

And on top of all that, you get great value for your money. You have your own bedroom, your own bathroom, all you have to share is a kitchen. Which in my opinion, is a lot better than friends of mine last year who were all sharing bedrooms in a house full of ten people with only two bathrooms! So you get your privacy here in res, which everyone needs.

Oh and if anything breaks, you just call up maintenance and they will fix it nearly straight away for ya considering they are wandering around campus anyway every day of the week, compared with a house where you might have to wait a bit longer.

the jew

i thought living on campus wasn't the best. you do get a nice room and your obviously near the college. but then you can't have parties (yeah security are strict on this), let your friends stay the night (there is a big fence around res and after 12 when your going in you have to show your card to someone at security). the price is pretty dear compare to accomodation near the college. for 1st year i'd say it would be grand but not after that. there's no rush with making a decision on staying on campus cos the res office is crying out for people to stay next year, they upped security this year (even though nothing happens around the college anyway) so are a lot more strict than other years so hardly anyone is taking it for next year. last year i took res at the end of the year then found out that some people took res the week before college started for about €200 less.

dregin

I had a blast living on campus last year. I don't actually know how I came out the other side alive. I think most people living there were scared ****eless of us.

All in the name of rock n roll.

Polly19

This year Im the Larkfield res rep and I aint gonna lie Campus res r some of the nastist people oyu will ocme into contact with if you get on their bad side which alot of people seem to be doing :S

Jesjes is right this year it ws decided for the next two years there is gonna be a huge push by SU on putting pressure on Campus Res to make them change the terms and conditions of our contracts with them.But it aint gonna happen easily or quickly.It will take time and we will be lucky if we see it happening in the next two years.

Another alternative to Campus Res is applying to Shinonna res which is a two min walkfrom the Collins Ave side of DCU.They operate the same as Campus res except they are alot less strict in their rules and are more flexable towards students and respecting us

tinkerbell

I'm assuming you're talking about Shanowen res, Polly19.

I stayed in Shanowen last summer and I absolutely hated it, I couldn't wait to get out of there. That security guy is creepy and he lets in right weirdos into the area. When I was moving in, my boyfriend's dad went to get the security guy and next thing, the security guy's friend tried to get into the driver's seat! I was like wtf! Get the **** out! And he scurried off. Then when we were leaving, the crazy guy was driving around the place, and we were behind him, waiting to get out the gate, when the crazy guy started reversing back into us, he nearly rammed us! Turns out the guy was totally paralyatic drunk, and the security guy just let him in there, what a ****ing tool! :mad:

As for the rooms - they are absolutely tiny and uncomfortable, the bathrooms are awful, the kitchens are totally cramped, the windows are totally unsafe - they may as well be doors, anybody could walk in and steal your stuff if you left your window slightly open. Even the finishings on the walls n stuff - there was paint in my sink! And trying to get in and out of the place was a nightmare with a car - nobody has a remote control for the gate, so you can only get in with a car IF the security guy is there, and more often than not, he isn't there!

And when I was trying to move in, I was told a time, and the security guy never bothered turning up with the keys, I was waiting about three hours!!

Res is so much better, at least it's run like the way it should be - efficient, and the accommodation is lovely.

spoon

dregin wrote:

I had a blast living on campus last year. I don't actually know how I came out the other side alive. I think most people living there were scared ****eless of us.

All in the name of rock n roll.

gowan vg79!

i thought res was brilliant... but if you want to do well in college, its not as good, there's always people around drinking and you have no choice but to join in. i went to about 12 lectures in a year.

Zyox

Cocktail Bra!

Suaimhneach

Lectures are overrated.

katnip

It's very unlikely that any of the terms of the on campus res contract will be changed. The major problem is the fact that there is a licence agreement, which legally gives campus res the ability to make up whatever kind of rules they like. You have no tenant rights under Irish law whatsoever.

They will also not be changing the rules for overnight guests in the undergrad res, as they have been told that it will violate fire safety standards. The official line is that the hallways are a certain width and only allow for the safe evacuation of a fixed number of people.

While the SU have been doing everything they can, you just can't force people to change their minds. Especially when it's a business that is showing it can find plenty of people to pay for res and put up with their rules and regulations.

bragan

I lived in Res in first and second year, and got a house in third year. i think Res is great for first years. you get to meet alot more people than you might if you lived off campus, because you meet people in different courses/ years. its a good way for first years to settle in, but i wouldn't recommend it after first year. you have much more freedom if your renting a house.